Illogical
by MlleD
Summary: Guess who's finally going to catch Kira? LXRaito. COMPLETE.
1. Introduction

Intro:

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Death Note.

Ok. So…

SPOILER

SPOILER  
SPOILER  
SPOILER  
SPOILER

Someone posted a huge spoiler on some fanart site, and I was prematurely exposed to the fact that yes, L would die. In chapter 58.

Call this… denial if you will, but this is an alternate ending. There's no second arc. The first one just ends a little differently.

…

I use American money terminology because I have no idea how yen conversions work. Sorry about that. -;;


	2. Degrees of Death

Degrees of Death

L wanted revenge.

It was a difficult conclusion to come to. There was justice, firstly, that he should have thought of—hard, cold facts, and nights of sitting at his computer, motionless while Yagami Raito slept, playing mind games with Kira. Justice was difficult to overcome. No, not overcome—to put second on one's list of priorities. But that wasn't a problem anymore.

What L had discovered about himself in the first few days after he had been presumed dead was that as a dead man, various things had taken to rather drastic changes. The world at large was not an example. Neither was the threat and investigation of Kira. No, it was he, L, who had changed, the world through his eyes. He was dead. Kira believed it so he was free. He knew he was free because he knew who Kira was, and also his means. His goal remained: to prove to the world that his suspicions had been correct all along. Only one other person in the world had any idea how possible this was…

"1.75 please."

L carefully placed the coins on the cashier's desk and thanked him for the gum. He ambled out of the supermarket, pulling his hoodie off over his head. With the amount of air conditioning they used in the summer sometimes, he had developed a habit of taking a sweatshirt with him on all of his errands.

L happily popped a piece of gum into his mouth. "Mmm." It was green apple.

And what was so brilliant about it all was that although his goal remained the same, as a dead man he could pursue it for slightly different reasons. Revenge, of course, being one of them. And Justice. Of course.

L chewed slowly, and the smile slowly vanished from his face. He looked at the packet and blinked, immediately heading back into the supermarket for something with a little more sugar.


	3. Candy Shop

Candy Shop

L checked his watch. It would be lunch hour for the team. Not that any of them would take the break—they tended to bring their lunches and work through the hour. He was crouching in the candy aisle, trying to decide between green tea and strawberry flavored pocky…

And at that very moment happened to glance up at the revolving doors at the end of the store.

L's eyes widened, and he shrunk lower behind the shelf, peeking at Raito from between jars of licorice and sour worm-shaped candy. He put on his hood, flattening his messy black hair. For a moment, he couldn't see Raito as shoppers blocked his view and in another, Raito had begun moving in his direction. Ryuk hovered behind him. L remembered how surprised he had been to see the shinigami for the first time, when Raito sat for his brief "funeral" service, and also how surprised he was to know that he _could _see Ryuk when apparently no one other than Raito and Misa could. It had proved that there was another death note in the world, and also that he had somehow touched it without knowing.

L grabbed his pocky—a box of each kind—and crept away. As invisible as he chose, L watched Kira go into the candy aisle from behind tall shelves of sauces. L's heart rate increased by about five beats per minute, and not because he was afraid.

Raito shoved his hands into his pocket, shifting his weight as if he wasn't sure what he was doing. He reached for the strawberry pocky, but then wavered between it and the green tea-flavored kind. At the end he took the chocolate and walked briskly out o the aisle.

L watched Raito pick out two of the reddest apples from the fruit section and then disappear into the checkout lines. He slowly followed. By the time he had paid for his candy, Raito had already left. L walked out on the street, located Raito a block away, walking in the opposite direction as the headquarters and followed.

For about five minutes, Raito walked without turning to see the man followed him a block away, sometimes as close as half a block away. Raito caught a bus at such a time, and L only had to run a little to board the same one.

On the bus Raito sat looking out of the window, and didn't notice L passing by to sit some seats behind him, partially shielded by a man reading a newspaper so that his reflection wouldn't' be caught in the glare of the glass. He ignored the glance from the newspaper man towards his posture.

Three stops and half a box of strawberry-flavored pocky later, Raito and L got off. They had arrived a quieter side of the city.

Suddenly, Raito felt a sudden urge to turn and look around him, or so it appeared. He saw no one, and continued, his walk a little slower than before he boarded the bus, and little more casual.

The bus pulled away, revealing L standing on the street on its other side. He thought that maybe the shinigami would become impatient and say something to Raito.

L caught Ryuk's eye and the shinigami pouted behind Raito's back, although consenting to not hint at him following them.

"Nevermind," the shinigami told Raito. "He just crossed the street.

"Hmm." Raito didn't seem to care either way.

Half a block later, L was lingering by alight post, watching Raito enter the cemetery where he himself had supposedly been buried.


	4. Just For Show

Just for Show

Raito stood before L's empty grave, smiling to himself, as if recounting a previous achievement. It was just for show. They pocky that he placed at the grave was also just for show. He had a feeling that Matsuda or some other members of the team would visit L's grave before long. If the pocky was brought up at headquarters, he would admit to cleaning the grave, despite how new it was, and further cleanse any suspicion as to him being Kira.

But then all that was just for show. By taking those unnecessary precautions, Raito allowed himself to grasp a rather frightful and raw part of his own desires. He did not have the time or incline to take unnecessary precautions, really. He went to the cemetery to visit L's grave, and that was it.

It had been rather difficult for him to come to that conclusion but Raito admitted it to himself.

Ryuuzaki's death had caused some unexpected changes in Raito's life. His life was almost dull—no, not dull. Devoid of prospect. No, not that either.

Raito decided that it was the thrill he missed, the cat and mouse chase. Now Ryuuzaki lay under his feet, where he belonged, Raito supposed but… it was _dull_. And what he couldn't admit was that he was unhappy.

Ryuk laughed. Raito looked up, smiling, and tossed the shinigami an apple. "What is it?"

"You're so sentimental."

Raito froze for a moment, bewildered and grinning. He laughed, pulling the death note out from inside his suit, along with a mini-television. He sat down against L's gravestone.

L, watching from behind another grave far away, glared. Raito was so immature, he thought, immature and stubborn. Ryuk grinned.

"I'm going to visit some people. See if I can remember any."

"Mmhmm." Raito didn't even look up from his work as Ryuk lurked off to look at tombstones.

L couldn't believe how simple it would be to gather evidence as things were. And he was so unprepared… He would have been happy with a video camera. With his watch, and news of criminals' deaths that he could get later, he could show the world who Kira was.

But he only had the watch, and Raito was taking a special risk by writing in the death note in public—no matter how isolated this "public" was. He couldn't be counted on to do it again, at least not for a long time.

How brilliant being overlooked could be, L thought, and what a pity. He stood, and since Raito was facing away from the path that led out of the cemetery, walked very quickly towards the gates.

"Hello there."

L leapt back silently, biting down any sounds of surprise, as Ryuk suddenly appeared before him.

"Can I talk with you? You're a very interesting human."

L glanced back at Raito, who, of course, hadn't noticed anything with his back towards the gate, and left the cemetery with the shinigami in tow.

On the street, L delicately wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead.

"I'm Ryuuku. I'm a god of death."

L smiled, his eyes appearing even larger than usual. "You're Yagami-kun's reaper because he has the death note that somehow corresponds with you… You know, I think I'm getting the hang of these ideas. But not entirely. I want to talk to you too."

"Good. I've been wondering why you're still alive. Rem wrote your name in her death note. Raito and I both saw it there."

"I thought she would, the moment Watari died," L admitted. "And I was scared after I faked my heart attack that maybe I shouldn't have and I _wasn't _meant to die. But then Yagami-kun seemed pleased, which meant that I should have… so something had gone wrong."

"What went wrong?"

"I don't know."

"What?! You didn't save yourself?"

"Well," L nibbled on a piece of pocky, "I didn't do anything but fake my death when I thought it was about time I would have died, just in case my death was planned and something _had _gone wrong. It turned out I was right, but I don't know how it went wrong… where is the reaper that killed Watari now?"

"Um… I shouldn't tell you anything. I'm Raito's shinigami after all."

"I would like to figure out what happened. It has nothing to do with proving that Yagami-kun is Kira. You're curious to know too, aren't you?"

Ryuk grinned. "I was right. You are interesting. Well, Rem _died_."

L's eyes grew wide. "Gods of death can die?"

"Yes, when they use the death note for the good of a human, to prolong his or her life, I mean. Rem died when she killed Watari… and you, I guess."

L made no reply. He reached inside his second box of pocky and realized that it was empty. He stopped walking.

"Watari's name appeared before mine in the reaper's death note, correct?" Ryuk nodded. "Then when he died, Rem was technically dead too, from the moment that she wrote his name?"

"Um." Ryuk scratched his head. "I don't know."

"Well then it's simple. She shouldn't have the liberty of writing a second name after being 'technically' dead. I imagine she may have only just had time to write my name… before dying." L smiled happily.

"I suppose so…" Ryuk admitted. "Aren't you afraid I'll tell Raito this?"

"If you planned on telling him, you would have done it already," L said with a shrug. "And you think I'm interesting."

"…"

"Unfortunately, I'm out of sweets," L told the shinigami cautiously. "So I'll have to go home. We'll talk more next time. Ok, Ryuuku-kun?"

"Wait, how can you see me?" Ryuk stopped L.

"I'm out of _brain food_," L apologized. "I'll probably figure it out the next time we talk."

"Oh… ok then." Ryuk grinned, thinking how similar Ryuuzaki was to Raito. Well of course he wouldn't tell Raito about him… out of curiosity if nothing else.


	5. Thinking Back

**A/N (My logic for L not being dead is that Rem wrote his name after Watari's, at which point she was "dead". Not a shinigami. Basically… dead. But then you could argue that anyone whose name is written in the DN should die—but that could be a whole separate debate by itself.) **

Thinking Back

"Did you find anybody you'd killed?" Raito asked Ryuk when he returned.

"A few people."

"Well, good. It's time to go back to work."

Raito continued with his day, knowing nothing about what had happened. He had only a slight feeling to do with his day being anything other than ordinary, and at its end cared only about the fact that he had a massive headache.

"I'm going to sleep," he announced to the rest of the team at a little past ten.

"This early, Raito-kun?" Mogi asked. Matsuda was nodding off at his desk, and Aizawa had already left to be with his wife and children.

"Yes. I've had a headache. I think I'll take an aspirin and go straight to bed." Soichiro nodded. "Good night."

Raito didn't take an aspirin. He took a bath instead, which helped him relax. After _that_, he went to bed. Or attempted to, at least. He was ambushed in the hall by Misa. The girl was free of suspicion, but she insisted on living at headquarters.

"Raito, are you going to bed?"

"Yes, Misa. I'm tired."

"Misa is going to bed too."

"Good night then." Raito pushed past her to get to his room, drying his hair with a towel along the way.

"Wait, Raito!"

Raito grimaced, turning around with a clear face. "What is it Misa?"

Misa wasn't stupid enough to not feel the violent vibes emanating from Raito, but she went on and asked if they could sleep together anyway.

"No."

"Why not Raito!"

"I have a headache. It's been a long day." Without another word, Raito went on to his room and locked the door behind him.

Raito sighed when he was alone. His room was lightly furnished and was very much like a hotel room. There was a large window in one wall, a small closet in another, a desk, a lamp, a couple of chairs, a television, a small fridge… there were two beds as well, but they had been pushed together. No one other than he had been in that room since he had killed L; he didn't feel like doing anything to it.

Dropping his towel onto one of the chairs, Raito closed the curtains and gave Ryuk the second apple he had bought that afternoon. The shinigami wolfed it down and drifted out of the room. Raito never liked him to be there when he slept. For obvious reasons.

Raito turned on the light in the closet and closed the doors, immediately falling into bed. He really did have a headache, but the low drone and dim lighting of the room had an odd and positive effect over him. He sighed again and took off his watch to put on the bedside table.

At half past eleven, Soichiro Yagami stood up and stretched. "What a long day. You should all get some rest."

There were a few scattered "Yes Chief"s. Soichiro took his coat and headed off for home.

The Yagami house was supposed to be empty. Sayu was on a college tour with her mom, and they would be gone for a couple of weeks. Raito had taken to living at headquarters.

The house actually wasn't empty.

L looked up as Soichiro entered. Soichiro froze when he saw L. For a moment both stared, one in horror, the other a little uncomfortably. L scratched one foot with the other.

"What are you doing?"

L smiled. "I'm washing your dishes."

Soichiro locked the door behind himself. "You _used _all of those dishes?"

L nodded slowly, pushing his sleeves back up as they slid down. He pointed at the dining table with a rubber-gloved-finger. "I also used your oven to make cookies. I hope you don't mind, Yagami-san."

"Um. Not at all, Ryuuzaki." Soichiro hung up his coat and opened the refrigerator. His stomach growled.

"Have you had dinner Yagami-san?"

"What? Oh… no. Not yet." Soichiro tried not to show his surprise at seeing his fridge stocked up with cakes. He dug out some leftover, microwavable food.

L put away the dishes and wiped the counter, going to make tea. "Yagami-san, have you had any progress with the investigation?"

Soichiro took his food out of the microwave and sat down at the table with a sigh. "No, Ryuuzaki, we haven't had any progress." He suddenly looked up. "That doesn't mean my son is Kira. We didn't have any progress for months while…"

"While I was in charge of the investigation," L finished. He opened the fridge and stood inspecting his cakes, trying to make a choice and gnawing on his thumb.

"How… was your investigation?"

L chose a strawberry tart and leaned against the counter, dropping sugar cubes into his tea. "It was good. Forgive me if I don't tell you exactly what I've found. When I'm 100 percent certain I can convince you I will."

Soichiro didn't say anything. There was no use in continuing to insist that Raito was innocent.

L felt a little guilty. Soichiro was the type that tormented himself. And especially when he had been the one to help L tell the rest of the team that he was "dead", and the one at whose home he had currently taken shelter in, L really didn't like to see Soichiro tormented. But he didn't like to falsely comfort him either. He just sipped his tea and finished his pastry slowly.

"Thank you again for letting me live in your house, Yagami-san," L told Soichiro when they cleaned up.

Soichiro smiled genuinely. "I'm happy to help in the investigation in any way that I can."

_He really thinks his son is innocent,_ L mused.

Soichiro watched L go into the bathroom, thinking of things that L may have known but most likely had missed. He felt that if only the detective knew to what limits Raito worked himself, his suspicions would be lessened further. And if only Ryuuzaki knew how Raito had changed since his "death"… Soichiro had noticed the changes; he doubted anyone had, considering how slight they were. But as a father he had noticed changes.

L brushed his teeth meticulously. He always took good care of his teeth. When he was done, he went to Raito's old room to sleep. Even though his son had moved out, Soichiro had left the room exactly as it was when he lived there.

L never used to sleep very much, but had gotten into the habit of going to bed every night in those months he spent chained to Raito. He had discovered that time at night to think over the day's work and the case overall was good for his own investigation.

L turned on the closet light and shut the doors, taking comfort as he always did in the soft light that leaked from its cracks.


	6. Thinking Back Pt 2

A/N: BACK FROM VACATION!!! Thanks to all you guys that commented. It means a lot to me! I know this story has been a bit angsty, but… Ok, it'll pretty much be that way, but there are sweet bits too. I hope… Well, encouragement makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Thinking Back Pt 2

L lay underneath the covers, staring wide-eyed at the ceiling. The watch that he had taken to wearing was sitting on the bedside table, ticking away.

He remembered how annoyed Raito had been with that watch and its ticking. L had chosen it himself, course, on a day when he decided that he wanted one to try wearing one the way Raito always wore his. It was really because he had asked to wear Raito's watch and received a rather curt answer that L had dragged him out—chain hidden—to buy the most irritating watch he could find.

L smiled a little without knowing it. His memory leapt to another incident regarding the watches. One night when Raito was asleep and he was thinking, L came to the conclusion that he wanted to play with Raito's watch.

It was because if Raito-kun was Kira, the criminals died because he could kill them with a bare minimum of supplies, the things he had on his person, that L justified his actions. He ignored the fact that it still bothered him slightly that Raito wouldn't let him try wearing his watch earlier.

A few twists of the buttons, and turning the watch this way and that led L to pull out a seemingly removable piece of the watch that held nothing but a blank piece of paper. L had then replaced the watch and gone to sleep.

In the morning after that, L had woken with the question of Raito's watch in mind, and Raito dragging him over to the balcony to fling his newly-bought watch out into the street. Apparently the alarm wouldn't stop screaming, and the entire design was so disorganized that Raito absolutely refused to spend time at dawn trying to figure it out.

It was after he had "died" that L found the watch again, in the gutter. It still worked, and figuring out how to fix the weakly-humming alarm took up the most intellectually intense two minutes of his day.

L smiled triumphantly. He had just figured out how he was able to see Raito's reaper. That piece of paper in the watch… it had to have been from the death note because Raito was Kira, and there was no other explanation. And… it was how Higuchi, the last Kira, had died; it was small enough for someone like Raito to be able to use in pulling off a murder right next to L. And if that scrap of paper from the note could kill… then some of the rules in the death note he had touched were lies.

L felt a craving coming on, and climbed out of bed for a midnight cappuccino.

Not too far away, Raito had finally fallen asleep, in his street clothes and on top of the covers.


	7. Endymion

(A/N: Yep. Everything will begin to spiral at this point. I want to know what you guys think! Feed the lovable purple button at the bottom, ok?)

Endymion

When Raito woke the next morning, he still had the headache.

"Raito has a fever of 102.4 degrees," Misa declared, kneeling on the sofa next to Raito as he tried to look over some of L's old files. "What is that in Celsius?" she asked Aizawa. "And why did Ryuuzaki-kun have an English thermometer?"

"Raito, you can't work with a fever like that," Soichiro said, turning around from his computer.

Raito grimaced. He reclined on the sofa and brought a hand up to his head, closing his eyes.

"Misa will take care of Raito!" the girl leapt up. "Raito needs soup." She rushed off to the kitchens, and Raito wondered if she was actually going to make soup. Misa thought pies were cooked.

"I think you look nauseous," Matsuda said. "You should go to bed." Soichiro turned back to his work.

Raito nodded and staggered off to his room. Once there, he locked the door and waited, thinking over his priorities. Ryuk was crawling around on the ceiling.

Raito leaned against the wall. He thought about Kira. His goal remained to create a new world, but that idea was just slightly dimmed. Could it be that during his and L's at and mouse chase his resolve had actually shifted from a battle to rid the world of evil to a battle for dominance and existence?

Raito thought that perhaps, just for a moment he fantasized, that a successor could be named to Kira. Misa perhaps, but she would die before too long, and Kira needed to live… Or did he? What if he chose a successor and then brought him to justice in the name of L? He would finally succeed where the previous L had failed, overcoming him a second time.

And Kira would die… The death note would always be a great weapon. And he, Raito, would become L and do his detective work.

Raito killed the fantasy. It was selfish. Of course he couldn't terminate Kira. So… of the options he had at hand, he chose to kill Misa. He didn't really need her anymore. Rem was gone, and so was L. Also Misa knew too much; he worried about her constantly, and what information she would accidentally spill.

But then perhaps it was the annoyance of her mere existence that led to his anticipation of her death? All Raito knew was that with Misa around, Misa who knew he had killed L and knew he was Kira and knew what he wanted to achieve and what he had done… he felt restless. Misa knew him—about him, and she needed to die.

Raito froze, shocked, for once, at the immensity of his own thoughts. Kill… Misa?

There was a knock on the door. Raito opened it, taking a bowl of microwaved chicken broth from the girl he had just been thinking of.

"Misa did good?"

"Misa did very good," Raito awarded her with a gentle smile. "Now will you tell everyone that I'm sleeping and shouldn't be disturbed?"

Misa's face instantly lit up. "Anything for Raito!" She skipped off down the hall.

Raito closed the door again. While his illness was, of course, made up, he did in fact _feel _as if something was not quite right. He felt… in pieces. A little scattered, and did not intend to spend another day pretending to track down Kira. Raito turned on the television in the corner of the room before going to dig out his death note. He then sat down, immediately recognizing the gnarled face that took up half the t.v. screen.

"Ex convict, the infamous Tanaka Chikako, acquitted last June for lack of evidence of the rapes and murders for which she was accused, has agreed to a public press conference at the base of the Landmark Tower in Yokohoma of the Kanto region, where _Kira_ is rumored to reside. Tanaka-san has promised to disclose the truth of her life at 7:00 A.M. tomorrow, when the conference will be held."

There was a close-up on Chikako's face as she was escorted into a police helicopter. She wore a suit, no handcuffs; it was a witness protection program. Chikako caught sight of a camera and grinned. The clip ended there, and the shot jumped back to the polished face of the news anchor.

Raito twiddled his pencil over the death note, thinking. Everyone knew Tanaka Chikako was guilty of the crimes. It had been a failure of the legal system that she was found innocent.

What sort of game was she playing by baiting Kira? Raito wondered. Was she working with the police? Raito wrote down the ex-convict's name and the time of death: 8:00 A.M. the next day.

He felt he understood what _game_ Chikako was playing. If he was wrong, there was no way the killing could be traced to him anyway.

Raito turned off the television.

L checked his watch. A full five minutes after the television in Raito's room had been turned off, he shut off his camcorder and placed it on the table next to him. He brought a thumb to his lips.

The television in the hotel room L was staying in at the moment was on. A voice said, "For those just joining us, there is breaking news. Ex-convict…"

L nibbled on his thumb. He had rented a room across the street from the investigation headquarters after first purchasing the camcorder. It had a high-power zoom, and had recorded about twenty minutes of footage of Raito's window. The curtains had been drawn the entire time, of course, and the room was dark, but the television was not. That little bit of evidence was only a part of the larger plan.

Raito did not leave his room for the entire day. L watched patiently for any movement, and was disappointed at the end of the day only because Soichiro didn't get a chance to place cameras in the room.

(A/N: For those of you who are wondering, Endymion is the beloved of the moon, Selene, from Greek mythology. Whether it was because Selene asked Zeus or what, I don't really remember, but Endymion ends up sleeping forever, and Selene just kind of… watches him from a distance for all eternity. Or something like that.)


	8. Purge

Purge

"Did you see the news last night, Raito?"

"No, I was too tired to watch any t.v."

Matsuda popped a tape into the VCR. "Well we taped the whole thing anyway."

Raito sipped his coffee, watching the news announcement of Chikako's conference for the second time.

"It's likely to be on the news this morning again," Soichiro said, turning to the news station on another screen. Sure enough, there was a live broadcast covering the up-coming conference.

Raito glanced at the clock on the opposite wall. It read 6:28. "What steps have been taken?"

"We've posted officers on everyone on our suspect list," Aizawa said.

"…I'm going to the Landmark Tower," Raito declared, putting down his coffee.

"We have officers there too," Soichiro argued.

"I have a feeling that Kira is going to be there," Raito explained without really explaining anything.

"Raito? Misa is coming too!" Misa stood in the doorway, rubbing sleep from her eyes.

_Perfect_, thought Raito. "I would rather you not. It could be dangerous."

"Misa doesn't care. She wants to be with Raito."

Raito smiled. "Go get changed then. Hurry."

Raito and Misa made it to the site of the conference just as it started. There was a huge crowd gathered around a crowd of reporters, which in turn was gathered around a podium where Tanaka Chikako stood. Police were everywhere. Raito pushed to a place where cameras could easily catch him. Misa clung to his arm.

As the ex-convict's face was blared over the city and she confessed to the crimes she had previously been accused of, explaining her absolute guilt and absolute lack of choice, Raito checked his watch. 7:58. Chikako was wrapping up anyway. While the country was in shock, he felt like he and Misa were the only calm people in the crowd.

Misa yawned. Raito bent as if to tie his shoe, and wrote the girl's name on a slip of death note paper that he had hidden there. The conditions of her death had already been jotted down.

8:00. A look of pain came over Tanaka Chikako's face. Gasps rose from the crowd as reporters scrambled for coverage. The ex-convict clutched her chest, collapsing on the stage.

"Kira! It's Kira!"

Misa's hold tightened on Raito's arm as a look of utter hatred came over his face. A distracted reporter caught sight of him.

"Yagami-san?" The reporter pulled Raito aside. "Aren't you the son of the police chief?"

Raito nodded, looking perfectly disturbed and distracted. "Yes, yes I am." The reporter was a local one then.

A microphone was shoved into his face as a camera glared overhead. "Yagami-san, is this the work of Kira?"

"No doubt." Raito seemed to be trying to contain his hatred. He stared straight into the camera. "I've had enough of this. I don't fear Kira—if what you want is fear. What you have done is unforgivable. When you are uncovered, you will discover that billions of people around the world do _not _support you, and would only fear you at the very greatest. _I_ will find you, and I will make you pay."

Seconds ticked by on Raito's watch as meaningless words came out of the reporter's mouth. Suddenly, Misa's nails dug into Raito's arm. A scream was caught in her throat as she fell.

"Misa!" Raito went down with her. "Misa!"

L focused his shot as nearby reporters turned to the second scene. In his hoodie, he was just another face in the crowd.

"Could it be Kira again! The 'God of the New World' is known to retaliate quickly to…" the reporter rattled on.

L shut off his camcorder. Well, there it was. The scrap of paper in Raito's shoe and what he wrote there, and Misa Amane's death right after he lost his cool on live t.v… as if to pinpoint the blame on Kira—Kira who never killed secondary enemies.

Raito looked up just as the reporters closed in, unable for the moment to watch Misa's face as she died in his arms. In the heat of the moment, he thought he hallucinated. Watching him blankly, the one clear figure in a hazy crowd, wearing a red hoodie with a camcorder under his arm, was Ryuuzaki.

The next moment, Raito was overwhelmed by cameras. Misa was very dead. Raito leapt up, tears rolling uncontrollably down a haunted face.

"Yagami-san!"

Raito saw the red hoodie slip away into the crowd. Plowing through the sea of reporters that had surrounded him, he raced after the ghost.

The streets were busy. Raito saw only flashes of the red hoodie as he gave chase. Cars honked. L disappeared into an underground metro station, very aware that Raito had seen him. His heart raced. People stared as he raced by, hugging the camcorder to his chest.

_There_. The doors were just closing on a subway train. L squeezed between them, relief settling over him at the soft puff of air against his back that was the door shutting. Turning as the train slowly pulled away from the station, L saw Raito backing up from the glass, gasping for breath, looking more stunned than anything else.

L's camcorder was instantly at his face again, capturing Raito's image in the last few seconds before the train shot off down a dark tunnel.

At the end of the day, Raito still hadn't returned to headquarters. His cell phone had been turned off.

_Let the team think I'm grieving_.

Raito was in fact in something of a frenzy. Ryuuzaki was alive somehow. Since the man's death, he had been letting his guard down at headquarters, and in fact everywhere else as well.

Raito walked quickly, lost in a private hell and blind to the city at dusk around him. Rem's death note had been given up to the state, and was locked away in some high security vault. Thinking back, Raito couldn't remember why exactly he didn't look at Ryuuzaki's real name. He kicked himself for it. What could have come over him…?

And he had killed Misa. She was actually more good to him alive than dead. Despite his reasons, the truth was that the reasons for using her for as long as she was worth far outnumbered simply eliminating her. And she had been loyal…

Everything had fallen apart. Raito had tried to purge his world of L's death—his hand in it. But now L was back from the dead.

Soichiro burst into his house, finding L sitting at the kitchen table sucking on a lollipop and seemingly staring at nothing.

L looked up at Soichiro, who was evidently distressed. _I have proof that your son is Kira._ How was he supposed to say that?

"Ryuuzaki…" Soichiro wiped his forehead. "Raito has been missing ever since Misa was killed by Kira on t.v. I thought he may have come here."

"He hasn't. Please don't worry about him," L added. "Kira chose to kill Misa, Raito-kun's girlfriend, instead of him. Kira sees Raito-kun as a game… or a challenge."

"Does this mean my son is free from blame?"

L twisted the lollipop in his mouth. "Yes," he said finally. "I no longer believe that Raito-kun is Kira."

Soichiro sighed in relief. "Then you must…"

"Yagami-san? Still, you must not tell anyone else that I am alive. Not even Raito-kun." L stood to make some tea, ignoring his host's questioning silence. "There's something else you must promise to do for me."

"What is it, Ryuuzaki?"

"In a short while, I'll know who Kira is." L busied himself with boiling water. "And from now on, I'm going to send you a blank text message every thirty minutes. Should you not receive an expected one, you must find the safe that I've placed beneath Raito-kun's bed. The combination is 122205. You must do this before anything else and before speaking to anyone, and you must do it alone."

"But what…?"

L counted sugar cubes as he dropped them into his tea, his mind preoccupied with other things since he had disclosed his last directions for Soichiro.

(**A/N:** Thanks so much to the people that took the time to review so far. I really, really appreciate it. )


	9. Game

Game

(A/N: Thanks to all of you for your patience. This chapter took an excruciatingly long time to be completed, mainly because of my recent obsession with photography. I haven't even finished my first roll of film, and I've already got all these bizarre ideas. Lol. I'm not too good with film though… so we'll see how it turns out.

As always, please read and review!)

"Yagami-san, I'm going to take a walk."

"But it's nearly eleven…" Soichiro knew he wasn't really one to argue though. He wasn't _Ryuuzaki's _father. L left the house.

Raito expected to see a red hoodie again. He didn't expect to see L walking slowly down the street in his usual attire of a white shirt and jeans. Plus shoes.

"Hyuk hyuk…"

Raito stood from the curb by which he had been sitting, turning to look at Ryuk. There was little doubt about it; the shinigami had known Ryuuzaki was alive.

L turned into a dark alley. Footsteps behind him caused him to turn around.

"Where's your camera Ryuuzaki?"

Then something hard smashed into the side of his face, and everything blacked out.

_Oh he's definitely lost it_, Ryuk thought.

Raito appeared strangely calm, however. The trash can lid he had attacked with was thrown off to the side. Ratio took off his suit and wiped away L's blood with the sleeve of his shirt before dressing again.

Raito pulled L onto his back, staggering upright. He went out by the street and hailed a cab for Keiyu Hospital, only a couple of blocks away from the investigation headquarters.

Raito hummed loudly to himself, a little drunkenly, as he made his way to the headquarters after watching the taxi pull away from the gates of the hospital. L stirred once or twice, and what few passersby there were passed them off for typical, irresponsible young people.

The retina scanner at the door had accepted Raito, of course, and L also. Raito had been ready to punch in the code for outsiders when the scanner caught L's eyes—open like those of a dead fish even though he was unconscious, and passed them both. For once Raito was glad for Matsuda's incompetence. He said he would erase L's data from the security system. It was a ceremonious gesture; apparently he had forgotten to.

_That's just how much people care about you,_ Raito thought.

"Ryuk." Once inside the building, Raito handed L off to his shinigami, brooding over how Ryuuzaki's greatest feats of exercise were limited to walking back and forth from the kitchen and the office. Still, all those sweets he consumed seemed to convert directly to something other than fat—muscle was also unlikely because Ryuuzaki appeared dangerously underweight. Nevertheless, it was surprising how immensely—literally, dense Ryuuzaki was.

When L finally woke, it was after having his head pulled under the faucet in the bathroom down the hall where the private rooms were. The building, although equipped with the best security systems that a universally supported, freelance genius detective could afford and create, was empty of all human agents. It was after work hours, after all, and Soichiro had ordered the rest of the investigation team to not wait at the headquarters for Raito—by L's orders.

L lay sputtering in a puddle of water on the bathroom floor. His eyes, glazed over moments before, suddenly came to life. He groaned, turning over and putting his hands to his face. Raito watched calmly from the doorway, his hands in his pockets, as Ryuk hovered behind him.

L rubbed his eyes rather violently, and looked up at Raito—_Kira_. Kira was different from Raito. Incredibly cold, perfect, _blatant_; that man was Kira.

Raito extended a hand down to L, who took it to help himself upright. For a moment, the two simply looked at each other, none too proactively, and competitively calm. Raito smirked, finally, and reached into L's pocket, taking the detective's cell phone. He turned away, going down the hall into the main work area.

"You've called my father recently?" Raito glanced back at L, who followed close behind him. "A blank message… sent at 11:27. And another before that at eleven exactly." Raito checked his watch. "It's 11:56. That seems about right, doesn't it, Ryuuzaki?" He sent his father another blank message. L scowled.

Ryuuku chuckled, helping himself to an apple from the fruit display on the coffee table.

Raito tossed L's cell phone back to him, going to sit on the sofa. "Now, please be so kind as to tell me why exactly you're alive."

L stared blankly. His watch ticked in syncopation with the movement of the silent second hand of Raito's.


	10. The End of the Line

The End of the Line

(A/N: I'm so sorry for disappearing. I thought about abandoning this story, but then I also really wanted to get it all down. I'm definitely finishing it this weekend, and it'll all be up before March. Please review and tell me what you think, because as always, your feedback will be greatly appreciated.)

L stood and sat on the sofa across from Raito, bringing his legs up against his chest. Raito suddenly began to second guess himself. He had checked the detective over for bugs and found none. Ryuuku had disappeared from the room, which did him no good. As the silence dragged on, Raito began to think that there was a good chance that L wanted to be found and taken to the investigation building. Was he too rash to treat him the way he did? If the detective had cameras still, and remained there as silently persistent as he did, it meant that whatever footage the cameras got was not broadcasted. Raito thought how he could turn the situation back so that if reviewed, the hypothetical footage would not be enough to use as evidence against him.

That was, of course, if he allowed L to leave the building alive, a matter that he hadn't completely settled on.

Raito climbed up from his seat and leaned over L. The detective, as unfazed as ever, stared back.

"I can assure you, Raito-kun, that I carry no bugs of any kind. I am not wearing cameras in my eyes."

"Ryuuzaki," Raito began to protest, immediately drawing away. He did not trust L, and did not allow himself to relax.

"Raito-kun, please. If you don't believe me, don't say anything to pretend you don't know what I'm talking about." He silenced Raito's start of protest with a look. "I will tell _you _how you killed as Kira. I will explain to you why you are him."

Raito stood angrily. "You're insane, Ryuuzaki."

"Sit down."

"I don't know what happened to you or where you disappeared off to, but something caused you to crack."

"_Sit down_."

Raito stood still. "You've caused the team a lot of anxiety," he said quietly. "Do you know how much—"

L stood. He and Raito both understood the situation between them alone. It had always been about _proving_ to the world that Raito was Kira when they both knew L was right. And now, Raito was playing up possibly—albeit nonexistent—cameras that Ryuuzaki carried.

"There is a second reaper in the world…"

"Who told you to say that? Dammit where have you been, Ryuuzaki? What the hell happened...?"

"…You carry his Death Note."

Raito glared. "That cell phone. Sending a blank message every thirty minutes… Who are you contacting? Whose side are you on now?"

"Bullshit, Raito. I told you I have no cameras, so you might as well stop trying to make me out to be insane."

Raito turned and headed for the work desks. "I'm going to call the team," he declared. "You are insane." _L couldn't have all the evidence he needs to convict me_, Raito thought, _or he wouldn't be here._

L blocked Raito. "You write on scraps of paper and people die."

L wasn't quite sure why he was there, baiting Kira. He had all the evidence he needed… Why did he choose to put justice on hold? Yagami Raito could be on his way to jail if he chose.

"That's enough!" Raito took L roughly the shoulders and shoved him aside.

"I know where you keep the Death Note also."

Raito froze. He couldn't bring himself to contradict the threat.

"You thought you could relax, being in charge of the investigation."

L took a gamble, and turned towards the private quarters as if on his way to uncover the Death Note. The next moment, he was grabbed from behind and thrown against the wall.

"You're still _saying _things like…"

L threw his fist into Raito's face. He fell back, nursing what felt like a dislocated shoulder.

"You're losing your cool, Raito-kin," L said, smiling, as Raito staggered back upright. "I suppose I should mention that although there are no cameras on me, there are some placed all over this floor, including this room." Raito's eyes grew wide. "Also, my earlier footage, don't forget, has your face looking at mine through the window of a subway train. You shouldn't have acted so surprised at my being alive."

"What…" Raito's mind failed to bring up an escape route that he could take.

"You've been unlike yourself in these past few days that I've watched you. You've always appeared to think too intensely… it hasn't caused you to make mistakes before now. But to go so long without a break… you're going crazy, Raito-kun."

Raito knew it. L knew it—a feeling that rose above the heated pain of his shoulder and the intensity of their moment. _It was the end of the line_. L new what was past that line, and he knew Raito would very soon come to the same conclusions he had when faced with mortality He knew Raito would realize changes, and be faced with the prospect of revenge. Death makes one think of his self, his personal and lonely stature, and increases his desire for selfish things.

Raito's face changed as he glared at L. Flashes of a gun to his own head his finger on the trigger, exploded in his mind. His hands closed on L's shirt, and he dragged the detective onto the floor where he directed a series of furious attacks to an entirely submissive body.

L lost consciousness before long, and Raito, blood splattered and dazed, stood and moved jerkily to his desk. He pulled open the first drawer and grabbed his gun, bringing it to his head.


	11. Prospects

Prospects

(A/N: Does anyone have a deviantart? I'm totally obsessed with that site. If you do, visit me, please? My username is "saysomethingsweet". Without further ado, enjoy the story!)

Raito closed his eyes. The watch on L's wrist ticked. His finger squeezed the trigger.

"_Ugh_."

L hoisted himself up against the desk and knocked the gun aside. A rush of blood shot to Raito's head, and he collapsed, unconscious, onto the floor. L fell beside him, totally in no shape to push the limits of his broken body.

Time passed. L's cell phone buzzed, and very soon sirens tare up the quiet night outside the building where the world's greatest detective and the world's greatest killer lay.

L's safe had been opened, and its contents quickly reviewed by Soichiro. There never were cameras inside the investigation building. The two men, once found, were both taken to the emergency room. Nearly twenty-four hours after that, Yagami Raito was escorted by the police to a national, high security penitentiary, and L was admitted into physical rehabilitation.

In the months that followed, there was no contact between the two. The world began to settle into a tentative peace as rumors spread that Kira had been suppressed, and L, though victorious, had been destroyed in the fight.

When L finally left rehab, he felt that he had risen from yet another death. This one, he felt, had also brought changes. He heard that Raito had lost his trial, and that his execution day was near.

The first thing L did after hearing this news was visit an orphanage. He left contact information there, and then returned to Yokohoma, where he visited the Yagamis.

Soichiro, who had planned to return after the Kira case was solved, had apparently changed his mind. Knowing what sort of a character the police chief had, L would have guessed that he would resign out of shame. But Soichiro worked still—work seemed like all he did. Mrs. Yagami did not speak much at all, and avoided L prominently. Sayu was at university L didn't linger there.

Next, on the day before Raito's execution, L went to the investigation building. It had become another quarters for the police, but the floor where the main work was done was empty, left exactly the way it had been, due to a semi-coherent plea from L himself during his first trip to the emergency room.

L sat on the couch, knowing full well that outside his dimly lit haven, the world was in turmoil. Nothing but rallies were broadcasted on television—newspapers raved on about the execution of the man accused of being Kira. The police of Yokohoma were calling for backup from neighboring cities to suppress the multitudes of riots and to plan to escort the convict to the designated execution area, a place unknown to the general public and whatever psychopathic cults there included. Yes, L believed himself to be safe, and there was only one thing he needed to do

Raito wasn't the only one driven a little crazy by the intensity of those last few days before his arrest. L never could understand why he allowed himself to be found and brought by Raito to that very building. He couldn't remember if he ever had a reason to provoke Raito into beating him. Who ever heard of expressing outrage in submission?

But just then, as L sat there and thought, he realized the answer. It did not scare him too much, because it was just an idea. It was a harmless idea that he had when he sat there by himself.

After months of ceaseless legal operations and recognition and exposure, Raito felt removed from the world. Words that sprouted from the mouths of lawyers became nothing; he heard none of it if he didn't want to hear. His mind however, was clear again. It was freer than it had ever been—free from fear, from obligation, from denial and impossible visions. He had prepared himself for death.

There were times of desperation, however, especially when the time for his execution drew near. At nights, sometimes, Raito would find himself convinced that there was a presence outside his cell. There never was, of course. That was his only disappointment.

And so, the last day before the execution passed.

Or—it could be argued that it did not.

Some time before midnight, L was sitting on the same couch in the investigation building again. On the coffee table was a half-finished strawberry cake, and in his lap was Death Note. L glanced at his watch.

He thought about the execution. At dawn, Raito would be transported to the execution chamber. Throughout the night, he would be placed in maximum security care, a system nearly impossible to thwart. L bet that it was just "nearly".

The door opened—L had left it unlocked, and at a quarter until midnight, Raito appeared in the room.

(A/N: Another one finished. Leave me your comments, complaints, etc. The next chapter will be the last.)


	12. Time

Time

(A/N: LAST CHAPTER!!! Thanks to those of you that stuck with me this far.)

Ryuk, who hovered behind the new owner of the Death Note, laughed. He got a better show than he ever thought he would.

Raito glanced at the shinigami. He was unhurt, wearing normal street clothes—albeit ones that weren't his style—with the look on his face full of question.

L had been experimenting with the Death Note. It appeared that in Raito's narrow frame of mind, he had not done much to test the Death Note on grounds other than killing. L didn't know exactly how Raito broke out of jail. All he knew was that if the deed was even one percent possible, Raito would be standing in front of him at that precise moment.

Raito took his time to assess the situation. It didn't take long, however, to realize what the detective had done to get him there. He went to stand directly in front of L.

The detective stood as well, and showed Raito his name in the Death note, along with the notes: _escapes to headquarters five hours before the time of the execution_.

Raito pushed the book away. He lowered his head, saying with distinct humor in his voice, "Your methods of investigation have been a bit senseless lately."

"…This isn't investigation. That last night wasn't either."

"This is revenge."

"No. This is a little more selfish than that, I think. I…"

"How long did you put me down for?"

L glanced at the clock. "Until 12:15."

"Well, was there anything you wanted to say, or…"

"…No…"

Raito paused. There were about three minutes until 12:15, at which time he would die of a heart attack. He wasn't one hundred percent sure why L brought hi there. Eighty percent at least said it wasn't just because the detective wanted to watch him die.

"How did you find the Death Note?"

"Was the ceiling tile significant at all?"

"No."

"I thought there was a fifty-three percent chance that your new hiding place was nowhere significant, and most likely in plain view. I turned the room inside out to find it."

Raito nodded. Whatever time was left ticked obnoxiously away. "Fifty seconds, then," he murmured, looking at L's watch. _A few more seconds_.

Raito closed his eyes, slipping his hands into his pockets. He stepped into L, and closed his lips against those of the detective who was, as ever, unfazed. He was unfazed—Raito natural—because in the past few months of rebirth and death, the two had thought about everything. When one comes to terms with death, one realizes his own significance and insignificance. Standing there in the first moments of morning, their hearts drowning out time, Raito and L accepted their most private—perhaps selfish—but entirely individualistic selves. Everything finally made sense; it was perfectly logical.

They broke apart, savoring the coolness of fresh air and the heat rising to their heads. L glanced at his watch, which led Raito to realize that 12: 15 had passed into 12:16 and 23 seconds.

"I gave us a little more time," L explained.

"How…"

L retrieved the Death Note, dropped unceremoniously on the floor moments ago, and showed Raito the last part of the notes under his name, the time of death.

Raito laughed.

"In order for any of the events written in the Death Note to occur, death…"

"…Must be planned," Raito finished. "Well, I think that's a good amount of time."

"I… there's a helicopter on the roof…"

"Wait." Raito suddenly frowned. L sat down on the sofa, taking up his half-finished cake. "Did the reaper tell you that whoever uses the Death Note will go to neither heaven nor hell?"

"Yes, yes I did," Ryuk said, bobbing up and down on the ceiling.

Both men were just slightly disturbed to be reminded of the shinigami's presence.

"Your name is the only one I would ever have written in the Death Note," L answered as Raito sat across from him. "Shall we just leave it at that?" His watch ticked. "We should probably leave soon, after I finish this cake."

FINE.

(A/N: Thanks so much for reading. This last chapter was so fun to write. I can't say if I'll do any more DN stories ::probably shorter ones::, but ideas or whatever are welcome. G'night.)


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